Today I fell more in love with the people I love.

There is a lot of snow in Edmonton these days, and with that comes a lot of people in the inner-city hang outs. 7-7:30 am was a busy 1/2 hour for us employment people today. When things calmed down at 7:30 I had a chance to talk with some of my favorite people in the inner city. One of those people is a really brilliant man with a thick accent. A lot of times when he talks I just nod like I understand what he is saying (because it is over my head, and in a thick accent); usually he catches on that I'm just pretending to understand. He really loves his family but he hasn't seen them for 25 years. Thanks to facebook he has seen his niece as an adult. A lot of people have died in his family so he often chokes up when we're talking. What a guy.

When he left my office at 8, one of the younger guys came to my door and said, "How come you never invite me into your office for a heart to heart?" And I said something to the effect of, "As if you can top his story." Mr. Younger Guy came in and told me a little bit about growing up in the foster care/adoption system of Alberta. I mentioned that I watched a great movie (Gone Baby, Gone) on Friday that really got me thinking about what is best for kids who are neglected by their biological parents. We didn't really have an opportunity to take our conversation deeper, but he listed 3 great movies that will teach me about the realities of street life and the lives of drug addicts. (Once Were Warriors, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, Through A Blue Lens)

From 9 am to 12 pm I trained the new girl. She needs no training at all. She's a natural and we are all pleasantly shocked. Her initials are opposite of mine - SH!

After a drive in Angela's amazing car (it's little, but it NEVER gets stuck in the crazy snow) to Whyte Ave for lunch, it was back to the paper work. Mr. Encouraging But Also Over My Head came to me to get his resume changed and faxed to some really great job opportunities. In January he saw the picture of Miles on my desktop; since then he has referred to Miles as my boyfriend.


Today he saw my new desktop picture of Thomas. I told him he was another boyfriend of mine.


Mr. EBAOMH started asking me questions about my family and I started showing him some really great pictures. I love talking about my family. The more I talk about them, the more I love them.





Before I knew it, it was 2:30 and time for me to leave. I knew my car would be stuck, so I asked Mr. EBAOMH to round up some help downstairs to push my car out of the snow. He did. It worked.

Even though I was quite exhausted and dizzy, I went to the library to look for those movies. I ran out of energy while I was looking, so I headed back to the parkade. I took a different underground route to get back to my car... so I couldn't find it. I decided to just go back upstairs and outside and take my original route to my car. As I walked out of the library I spotted Mr. EBAOMH. I laughed and greeted him and told him I lost my car and I was dizzy and I needed a nap. We chuckled and went our separate ways. 20 steps later I heard someone running towards me.

"Are you going to be okay? Will you make it to your car?" Mr. EBAOMH said.

I replied, "I'll be fine. Thanks!"

I really like my community. Tomorrow Angie, Heidi, Jess and I are meeting with Communitas about forming a co-operative and buying a big house in our community for us to live in. We are all ready for change.

Yesterday my shirts from Threadless arrived. They fit perfectly. I am thrilled.

I'm still waiting for my other on-line order - Proactiv - the new solution to the problem with my face. I am devastated.(Just joking.)